In situ, you are called SuluYou are also called Sug,a contraction of the old word Sulug,which means "currents of the sea",the sea now known to the world as Sulu Sea.From your own tongue it comes,not from others' mouths.

While you were also called Suluk or Solok,your name will always take us backto what is called the “tranquilflowing current of the sea”,which has the characteristics of“travelling in the right path”.And you are peaceful.

The Lannang called you Sulu,a maritime polity recorded in Ming Shilu.Around 1375, an Arab from Mecca,Sayed Ali, called you Suluk.He heard from the natives the word Sulug.Ibn Majid in 1462 wrote it as Sulukbut didn’t claim the name comes from him.

Your brethren from Banjarmasinwere calling you Banjar Kulan,possibly from Kulaan, which means “close-knit”in their native tongue.You were a “Banjar Close-knit” then.Every now and then your name changes into different kinds according to people’s ex situ understanding.You’ve been called Karasikan, Kola and Kaling.

When the Spanish arrivedon your archipelago,they named you Felicia,which means “happy things or happy times”.Does this meanyou were once a happy placebut not anymore now? And why not?

"Jogjakarta” always sounds like a song of romance to me. Its rhythm evokes a feeling of warmth and acceptance. Like an unfinished poem, it beckons one to come in and fill missing lines. Some things here beg for experience.

I’ve been here once, in 2012. During that time, the places we went to were the most common ones, like Borobudur and Prambanan Temples and Malioboro Street. We also went to the Zero Kilometer Point of the city, which is near the Malioboro Street. I didn’t stay at five-star hotels, but I remember all my accommodations felt like palaces meant for kings.

Today is my second time to step on this ground. It’s 29th July, 2016. The sun shines over a bustling and busy city. I see many changes have occurred since last I was here. Now, I see taller buildings standing high. The streets are more crowded with faces of varying colors and degrees of beauty.

a view of the city from my hotel room

​​The city seems to be teeming now with more modern and taller buildings, but what I am excited about is meeting people here again. I couldn’t forget the warmth and cheerfulness of everyone I met from my last visit.

My hopes and dreams have been answered. I’m back again as I’ve always wanted. ​​​It is not hard to make friends here. Everyone seems kind, respectful, and helpful. Not to mention learned. Jogjakarta is known as the ‘Students’ City’ or ‘Cultural City’. It may not be incorrect too if I call it the ‘Knowledge City’ or Kota Ilmu. Everyone seems to be fully aware of their own history and their ancestors’ contributions to Indonesia’s nationhood.

very friendly local

​

​Some history and politics

On August 1 while visiting the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, a palace complex which also serves as a museum and cultural center, we learned more about the region’s politics and history. ​

entrance to the Sultan Palace

​Jogjakarta is a special region in Indonesia. It has His Highness the Sultan sitting as the city governor. This political organization is similar to those of sultanates in Malaysia where Sultans still rule their own states as heads of state, although in Malaysia they don’t function as heads of government.

With the Sultan as its head of state, Jogjakarta is the only region in Indonesia that is still governed by a pre-colonial monarchy. This same monarchy has existed for hundreds of years and survived through Dutch and Japanese invasion.

at the Sultan Palace

​Jogjakarta is just like other sultanates in the ‘Malay World’ like the Patani, Sulu and Maguindanao. But unlike the three, it didn’t bite the political hooks of colonialists. Maguindanao and Sulu continue to exist until now, but only as faint shadows of their glorious pasts.

​Note to self: When I go home, it will be a good point for me to study how the city held up against the colonial Dutch until Indonesia’s de facto independence in 17th August 1945, exactly seventy-one years ago on Malaysia’s Independence month--the same month of my birth and my visit.

me at the Sultan Palace

​Art and culture

Batik

Batik is the art of decorating cloth and creating beautiful, intricate patterns using wax and dye. If you go around Jogjakarta, you will find lots of stores selling beautiful batik fabric, dresses, bags, and others.

​​People here must be very proud of their batik designs. They all look very beautiful. I’ve seen lots of Batik in other places as well, but here they’re bolder and more colorful.

Batik of Jogjakarta

I was told that the word “batik” comes from the phrase ‘amba setitik demi setitik, which means “to write drop by drop”. In Indonesia, there are batik designs that are meant exclusively for members of the royalty, while there are those reserved for common people.

Millions of batik designs are exhibited in the Batik Danar Hadi and Batik Omah Laweyan at Solo or Surakarta. In Jogjakarta, you can see them everywhere including the Ullen Sentalu Museum, a culture and art museum located on top of a hill, and about thirty minutes from the city.

woman selling Batik clothing

Today we went to the museum, passing by native villages and green canopies along the way. It was a refreshing sight. When we arrived, I jumped off the bus immediately, only to be greeted by a gush of air chillier than that inside our air-conditioned bus.

entrance of the Ullen Sentalu Museum

​A bunch of local women selling the Salak Madu or the honeyed snake fruit approached us. Salak Madu looks scaly like a snake on the outside, but the inside is very sweet, maybe sweeter than honey. It’s everyone’s favorite fruit in Jogjakarta. Everywhere in the city or even in the countryside you can find people selling or eating Salak Madu. People also sell them along the art streets near the gate to the Buddhist Borobudur Temple, one of the World Heritage Sites in Indonesia together with the Hindu Prambanan Temple.

local women selling Salak Madu

Inside the museum, there are paintings, old photographs, poetry pieces, letters, and narratives written in Javanese and Malay language and translated into English and Dutch. I saw a lot of representations of old Javanese culture. But what amazed me the most is the striking similarity between Javanese culture and Suluk culture. For instance, they have this xylophone-like instrument called “gambang”, which is exactly the same as the Suluk “gabbang”, only bigger. Early Javanese use writing scripts called the Aksara Jawa, which are similar to Suluk scripts called Luntarsug. And they have these chants called uyon-uyon/klenengan (which I overheard being played in the background), which sound almost the same as the Suluk chant called “lugu”.

A "gambang" like this is displayed at the Ullen Sentalu Museum, looking strikingly similar to the Suluk "gabbang", only bigger

​Nevertheless, I had my time touring around Prambanan Temple in 2012, wondering how it was greatly designed, how it comes in precise measurements. How it was built with such advanced level of engineering that even until now, scientists and archaeologists are still baffled by it.

Sugeng Rawuh​Sugeng Rawuh was the phrase that welcomed us upon our arrival at Jogjakarta’s city airport. It means ‘welcome’ in Javanese and ‘selamat datang’ in Malay, or in English, ‘You’ve safely arrived’.At the museum earlier, we found one of the letters of the Sultan addressed to the people. A word struck me there. ‘Dumateng’. While reading the letter, Pak Wido told me what it means in Malay--to or toward. The root word of ‘dumateng’ must have come from the word ‘datang’ which means ‘arrive’ and ‘reach’. It is also similar to the Suluk word ‘dumatung’, which also means ‘to arrive or to reach’.

It’s not surprising to me that the city of Jogjakarta is an integral center of the ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ program. It is the perfect representation of an authentic Malay world. Thus we’re fortunate that despite the difficulty of having to wake up early and jump from one airport terminal to another (a total of five all in all including Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Jogjakarta), we still arrived here.

stupas at Borobudur

Ramayana epic play

We walked around a friendly city, witnessed a play of the Ramayana Epic. We learned about Jogjakarta or Yogyakarta originating from Ayodha, the ‘proper, fit, suitable’ city from Ramayana Epic and karta which means prosperous and flourishing’. Jogjakarta is indeed ‘a city that is fit to prosper’.

In a way, I see some connection between Ayodha and the word ‘ayura’, which in Bahasa Suluk means ‘to take care’. In Spanish, there's a word called ‘ayuda’ which means ‘help’. Thus, Jogjakarta flourished when the leaders and people help one another in taking care of the city.

There's many more to talk about. But I can’t just simply capture Jogjakarta in one poem or article. It’s not enough for me to capture all the beauty and wisdom I’ve learned here. I can only thank the good people who invited me to this Familiarization Trip and for letting me truly experience Wonderful Indonesia.

In my next article, I write about Solo, Mount Merapi and the Sisa Hartaku Museum. But before you read that, let me first thank the Indonesian Tourism Ministry, Pak Ruben, Mas Bondan, and the team of event organizers, Mbak Vian, Mas Eka, Pak Wisnu, and Mas Fitri, the team from Indonesia Consulate General, Kota Kinabalu, Pak Wido, Ibu Wulan and Pak Daru. Without them, this whole experience would not have been immensely enjoyable.​I love you, peace. Let's sail together. Layag Sug!

It was in high school when folklores and folktales piqued my interest. I was young and had no knowledge whatsoever about how important they were in the everyday lives of my people. There in the jungle of Sulu, the cradle of the Sulu Sultanate which reigned in our majestic past, I had the chance of listening to the chants of the manglulugu’ or chanter. I was not interested with the somewhat indistinguishable words but the melancholic melody.

I’d feel at peace listening to the melodious voices of traditional singers as every beat would hit my heart. Later I learned that the singing is called lugu’. I became interested to know more about it so I talked to my grandfather, then to the elders I came across with. I continued bugging my uncles, aunts and even the friendly neighbourhood chap.

I knew about folklore or folk tale in my English literature class, but I never knew what they were called in Bahasa Sug or Tausug language. Since then I have wanted to look for more. Lugu’ enthralled me to a point that I began looking for other classical forms of art, something similar to Lugu but easier to understand and much more lively. I spent my vacation in the jungle of Pasil one summer. There an old man told me about Kissa, a traditional narrative. Much to my surprise, Kissa is an equivalent of folkloric narrative.

My consultation with elders on the culture and tradition of the people of Sulu archipelago led me to believe that we didn’t develop a culture of writing down these narratives. What we had was just basically oral tradition. The narratives were passed down to reciters or chanters from one generation to another.

While I was not an inheritor of the skills of chanting nor did one single member of my family engage in this art, my mom is good in singing lullabies or langan and my dad is good in reciting poems or tarasul.Well, perhaps I had inherited a bit of both and I realized that I could learn to write. I wanted to write, and the least I could do was to record those chants. It never materialized. I lacked resources. I didn’t even own a tape recorder then.​Today young Sulus lack the interest in continuing these oral traditions and a way to preserve some of these performances is to document them. Folklore or Kissa is the Sulus’ eternal culture thriving in their consciousness as well as sub consciousness, either directly or not. They are expressions of ideas and values. The stories may be constantly changing because of the way they are retold or passed from ear to ear.​Although the stories keep past events alive as they describe the lives of the people then, keeping the old names of certain places and events that happen in the mundane or historical ones are a step towards preserving them. But most importantly, we need to write.

I feel blessed that someone like brother Raja Lakandula Sevilla Aming is doing such an endeavour to preserve the stories of the past. He is indeed a courageous young man as he is pushing forward the convergence of writers that will take on the duty of writing folklore for creating an environment where local stories become a part of our reading experiences in modern times. I was challenged when I read his message; “I have one request from you. Can you write a short reflective essay on preserving culture as our pride and its significance and whatever you maybe advocating - highlighting people and heritage?”

Honestly, I am not an expert. I am also still learning and still learning until today. But since I have finished a novel of one of the folklores of Sulus in Sabah, I accepted the challenge. I hope that I have shared my thoughts on how significant folklore is as the compass of our history, culture and our lives as people belonging to one group and identity, which also serves as a window of our past values and civilizations.​The ingredients of culture as the most crucial to the existence of people are possibly lineage, history, geography, beliefs, language, sense of belongingness, customs, and folklore. To me, folklore is one of the most neglected forms of art in these modern times. This is certainly true of the Sulus. Folklore involves those things we love to hear, sing, say, and do with our God-given senses and talents when we are at home with our family. With this, we find commonality, which truly gives us the joy of being at home.

Living in diaspora, we often take delight in our shared experiences whenever we meet other Sulus. In these moments fellow Sulus who are overseas talk about our identity, culture and traditions as well as history. We also talk about our culture of tales from our ancient ancestors that contribute greatly to the consciousness of our generations. Thus making them proud to cling to their past and learn their origin and ancient civilizations as the courageous group of people having their own statehood and country.​I am inviting young people to weave stories and be active in preserving our folklore and our heritage, as well as those unique traditions, which we have established in our native lands. We truly have a rich heritage, and it is our responsibility as the young generation to keep our folklore alive for future generations. May we gladly take on this responsibility. A tall order indeed, but it is reachable. Let us bring glory to God by embracing this rich heritage with which He has graciously endued us.

This was our last night at Malang. Of course, our stay would not be complete without a visit to the Inggil Museum Resto. There we learned some history while eating delicious foods.

Before our scrumptious dinner was served, I roamed around looking at vintage cassettes and old tables, as well as photographs of old buildings in Malang. It was not only my desire for food that was satisfied but my eyes too, looking at the antiques.

​The place had warm, classic, Javanese atmosphere. The restaurant’s interiors offered tables and wooden benches for sitting. The floor had gray tiles, while the wall was made of bamboo. A photograph of Mt. Arjuna hanged over the wall.

While waiting for our food to be served, performers of traditional dance and music took to the stage. Everyone was enjoying the performance. Others took to taking pictures while uploading through their phones and tablets. The place had WiFi Hotspot with great connection.

A staff told me that the owner of this restaurant is the son of a former mayor of Malang who likes to collect antiques and old currencies, posters of old days and traditional masks.

After being around taking photographs, I went back to my table. Food was already being served. They were serving Javanese cuisine. I ate ayam bakar and fried shrimps with avocado juice. The food was very tasty.

I was surprised because I thought the food would be expensive. It turns out I was wrong. ​​

Vintage cassettes

The time was very short. I’m thinking to visit it again so I saved their address, phone and fax numbers. Check it below in case you want to go too.Inggil Museum RestoJl. Gajahmada 4 Malang City / KlojenIndonesiaTel: (0341) 332110Fax: (0341) 712026

The place is not far from the new city, just behind City Hall and opposite the Hotel Malang. I am expecting more visits here, and will accept the invitation of the Ministry of Tourism Indonesia again for another Media Familiarization Trip.

Pre-Spanish Philippines is known to have used an ancient writing system called Baybayin. This was noted by both Spanish priest Pedro Chirino in his book Relación de las islas Filipinas in 1604 and historian Antonio de Morga in his book Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas in 1609. However, none of these sources mention the origin of the Baybayin or of the place where it was first discovered.

In this article, I will attempt to trace the roots of this ancient writing system as well as its connection with the "Luntar," a lost ancient Tausug script. I will also detail our own efforts to reconstruct the Luntar using characters from the Baybayin.

Baybayin in Tagalog can either mean “to trace” or “to spell”. Its root word, baybay, means “spelling”. Spaniards called Baybayin “Tagalog letters” while Bikolanos called it Basahan. To the Tausug, Basahan or Bassahan means a “place to read”, “manner of reading”, or “will be reading”. A piece of literature is called Babassahun. Basahan or Bassahan comes from the word Bassa, which means “to read”.

Baybayin Characters

Baybayin was used generally to write poetry, diaries, and other personal writings. Historians debate about the extensiveness of its use or the extent of literacy among natives during pre-Spanish times. Historian William Henry Scott argued that no literacy was generally achieved by natives in those times, and that no historical record of any writing system currently exists. He cited evidences where Datus from the 1590s could not sign affidavits and where witnesses could not sign oaths in the 1620s.

Ferdinand Magellan’s chronicler Antonio Pigafetta wrote that Visayans were not literate in 1521. However, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who became the first governor of the Philippines in the 1500s, refuted this. In his writings, Legazpi reported that Visayans used a system of letters and characters, which they learned from the Malays.

Legaspi’s claim was supported a century later by Jesuit historian Francisco Ignacio Alcina, who wrote that Visayans had a system of writing they learned from Tagalogs, who, in turn, learned it from the Borneans. He called this system of writing the “moro writing”.

At least five theories about the origin of Baybayin have been brought up by scholars David Diringer, Fletcher Garner, and Isaac Taylor. Baybayin, according to them, may have come from other Asian ancient writing systems such as the Kawi Script from Java, Pallava Script from Sumatra, Lontara Script from Sulawesi, Assamese Script from Bengal, and Cham Script from Champa.

One alternative theory raised is that this system of writing could have come from Sulus or Tausugs because Sulu was at the height of its civi-cultural as well as political-economic power in the 1500s. In addition, much of ancient Borneo, whom Legazpi attributed as origin of the Tagalog writing form, was inhabited by Tausugs in those times.

Dean Paul Rodriguez Versoza of the University of Manila proposed to change Baybayin into "Alibata" in 1914. He explained this in a book entitled Pangbansang Titik nang Pilipinas, which was published in 1939. He coined Alibata from the first three letters of Arabic characters; Alif, Ba, Ta’, which was widely known in Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago in ancient times.

Many historians, however, do not agree with Dean Versoza. Among them was historian/scholar Paul Morrow, who contended that the term Alibata has no connection with the ancient writing system in the archipelago. To Morrow, Alibata is totally a modern creation and absolutely has no relationship with the Baybayin.

Spanish priests in the 1500s relied heavily on the Baybayin in their evangelisation of natives. Father Francisco Lopez introduced Doctrina Cristiana in Ilocano. The book, which was an early record of Roman Catholic catechism, was published in 1621 using the Tagalog form of Baybayin. Over time, however, Baybayin was slowly abandoned by people until it finally disappeared from use.

Tausug historian Samuel K. Tan wrote that one of the first written literatures of Sulus or Tausugs was called Luntar, or Sulu annals. Dr. Najeeb M. Saleeby in his book, The Moro Problem, recalled being given access to a library of ancient books by the Sultan of Sulu. Most of the the books were religious manuscripts and books on law and magic. “There was no book on religion, law, or history in the possession of Datu Ali that I could not get, and the Sultan of Sulu placed his precious Luntar in my hands,” wrote Dr. Saleeby.

The Luntar was known as the ancient writing system of the Tausugs, aside from Sulat or Surat Sug. Sulat Sug, also called Jawi in the Malay world, are Arabic characters used in writing letters in Bahasa Sug. Luntar was believed to have been used in writing poetry, individual and personal historical accounts, and biographies.

“Luntarsug” written in luntarsug characters by Jefrey Rosales Ramos.

sSome scholars believe that the use of the Luntar was practiced even before the advent of Islam in the 7th or 9th century in the Sulu Archipelago. However very few evidences of its use exist; much of it is believed to have been lost during the first burning of Jolo by the Spanish armada in the 16th century.

The Spaniards destroyed evidences of Tausug writings; perhaps they did so not only to terrorize the natives but also to bury ancient Tausug symbols of civilization. Even after coercive and brutal attacks on Sulu and Mindanao, the Spaniards still couldn’t contain the natives. Out of frustration, the Spaniards burned cities, along with them valuable pieces of literature of ancient Suluks.

Luntar means “tossing words from mouth” or literally “by word of mouth and speaking”. Tausugs wrote on both leaves and bamboo slits. Historian Paul Morrow wrote that pre-Hispanic writing tools were called panulat. Pānulat, panunulat or manulat is a Tausug word which means “writer” and panulasulat means “how it is being written” or “presentation of writing”. Hipanulat means “tool used to write”, from the word sulat which means “to write a letter.”

As mentioned earlier, theories on the origin of the Baybayin are varied: from Kawi of Java, Pallava of Sumatra, Lontara of Sulawesi, Assamese of Bengal and Cham of Champa. Other historians wrote that the Tagalogs and the Visayans learned the Baybayin from Borneans.

If Baybayin was learned by Visayans from the Tagalogs, and if the Tagalogs learned it from Borneans, it is highly possible that the lost original script for the Baybayin is the Luntar, which came from the Sulu Archipelago and Borneo. (It should be noted that some Borneans in the early 15th century, before the invasion of the Spaniards, were also known as Sulus, Sulugs, Suluks, Tausugs or people of Sulu Archipelago and Borneo.)

LUNTARSUG:

Inspired by the rich history of the Baybayin and its connection with the Luntar, I and Tausug artist/author Asree Sug set off to reconstruct and develop a modern version of the Luntar using the Baybayin as basis. We call this writing system the LUNTARSUG. This reconstruction effort started in February 2011 at Sandakan, with the goals of preserving a lost ancient script and achieving renewal of Sulu heritage.

The system or atulan to write Luntarsug characters by Asree Sug.

Luntarsug has the basic set of characters from Baybayin and/or Alibata as well as a few more, which we added to suit the modern spelling of words according to the English alphabet. These new characters are; ja, za, ra, fa, patay, sangka’ and baris. We call these characters “asreeneldy”. Asree Sug designed fonts around them as well.We plan to discuss further about the Luntarsug in a book which we will publish later. The book is entitled Sejarah Sulug dan Teori Likusantara: Kepulauan Sulu sebelum muncul nama Philippines or Sulug History and Likusantara Theory: Sulu Archipelago before the existence of the name Philippines. In this book, we will discuss about pre-Spanish Philippines as it formed part of the Sulu Archipelago.Luntarsug is a system of writing (atulan pagsulat) that has twenty one (21) characters; three (3) vowels and eighteen (18) consonants. It has its own individual characters (sulatan) and alphabet (sunudsulat). We call Luntarsug characters batangsulat and the additional characters batangsunu’. The batangsulat, which we named asreeneldy, are also called “jafaraza.” The batangsunu’ are patay (sound stopper), sangka’ (glottal stop), and baris (slide line).

Sample sentence of Bahasa Sug written in Luntarsug by Asree Sug

The stopping symbol used in Luntarsug is a caret, which appears like an inverted v (^). This stopping symbol is called patay. The glottal stopper, which is called sangka’, is a small curl-like diacritic placed above a character. It is influenced by the Arabic dammah symbol (و). The sliding line, which we call baris, is used to determine how a character should sound: i (read as /iy/| if the baris appears above a character (baris ha taas), u (read as /uw/) if the baris appears below a character (baris ha baba). The sound /ah/ is the standard sound of each character. The vowel sounds of the Luntarsug are based on the three sounds of the Sulu vocal sounds, namely, a, i, and u. These three sounds are believed to be from the ilmu kabatinan, which is considered mystic knowledge in Sulu. Ilmu kabatinan is known as the “three alifs”. According to ancient Sulus, these three alifs can neither be destroyed nor exterminated. The three (3) vowels in Luntarsug are called tingugtuw, while the eighteen (18) consonants are called tingugpurna’.

Sample sentence of Bahasa Sug written in Luntarsug by Asree Sug

Based on our study of the Sulu language, Asree Sug and I theorize that the word luntar came from the word luntad, which in turn was derived from the two words lun (roll) and tadtad (chop into pieces). Luntar may have become known later from liyun tiyadtad, tiyadtad liyun, luntadtad, lun tiyadtad and tiyadtad paglunun. Over time tadtad may have evolved from tad to tar. On 1st July 2013, at the first regular session of the Sixteenth Regular Congress, Honorable Congressman Leopoldo N. Bataoil filed House Bill 160, also known as the “National Script Act of 2011”. This bill was intended to provide for the protection and conservation of native Philippine scripts, previously categorized under the umbrella term “Baybayin Scripts”. In this bill he listed eight written languages that are considered major, among them the Luntarsug or modern Tausug script.

Layag Sug written in Luntarsug by Jefrey Rosales Ramos

Ancient script researcher from Zamboanga City, Jefrey Rosales Ramos, who learned of the Luntarsug writing system and studied it, sent us this message just recently: “Assalamu Alaykum. I would like to ask your and Asree Sug’s permission to use the Luntarsug chart. I would like to learn Luntarsug since I live in Region 9 and I descended from diverse ethnic tribes. Learning and actually using indigenous writing systems in my arts help me as I advocate for their use and for better appreciation of culture and history. I am hoping for your positive reply.” I exchanged conversations with him. He understood that Luntarsug is a reconstructed script. Asree Sug and I are very happy to spread the use of Luntarsug. I am honoured that Brother Jefrey Rosales Ramos made banner designs with the phrases “Layag Sug” and “Neldy Jolo” in Luntarsug. I personally thanked him for this.

QUOTES: 1. “…and the Sultan of Sulu placed his precious Luntar in my hands.” - Dr. Najeeb Saleeby, the Moro Problem, 1870.2. “The second form of Tausug written literature is the luntar, which is known to Tausug scholars or leaders as a brief historical account of the sultanate.”- Dr. Sameul K. Tan, History of the Philippines, 1987.3. “The sad fact is that most forms of indigenous art in the Philippines were abandoned wherever the Spanish influence was strong and only exist today in the regions that were out of reach of the Spanish empire.” - Paul Morrow, Canadian Baybayin Expert. 4. “…an art which was communicated to them from the Tagalogs, and the latter learned it from the Borneans who came from the great island of Borneo to Manila...From these Borneans the Tagalogs learned their characters, and from them the Visayans, so they call them Moro characters or letters because the Moros taught them…”-Francisco Ignacio Alcina, 1668

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ----------------------- Neldy Jolo is an author, photographer, researcher, blogger, and former university lecturer. He has consulted on historical research projects and has been a speaker in local and international conferences and dialogues on related topics including Sulu history, language, culture, and etc. A Sulu language expert, he’s been involved in the development of his mother tongue whilst freelancing as a translator and language consultant. He speaks different languages; English, Malay, Binisaya and Tagalog. He can be contacted at nsd.neldy@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/neldy.jolo.

I am a proud Muslim who descended from the Sulu archipelago. I am a Sulug by blood and heritage.

I was called “Moro” by the Spaniards as well as my Muslim brethren in Southeast Asia like Manila, Aceh, Melaka and Brunei. I find this term both unflattering and derogatory. To Spaniards who first coined the word, it meant, “pirates,” “traitors,” “juramentado,” “enslavers,” “cruel” and “uncivilized.”

Later they used this same term to refer to the people of Mindanao, Palawan, and Sulu collectively. At first I objected it, but after years of resistance, I got tired and accepted it. I even allowed its use in reference to my nation. Until today I am still using it and in fact I am now very proud of it. Is it right to continue using it? my friends ask me sometimes. Why don’t I use the geographical names Mindanao and Sulu archipelago to refer to my nation? Why should I accept the term Bangsamoro Nation? My friends tell me it sounds awkward too, because it literally means a “Nation of Moro Nation”.

I tell them that my Muslim brother Salah Jubair in his widely distributed book, “Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny”, already dropped the word “nation” in the book’s second edition “for brevity and more importantly to do away with the technical confusion arising out of it. Bangsamoro is literally translated into "Moro nation" and therefore to retain it is redundant”.

He even emphasized, “Alas! This was a monumental error; for the name Moro symbolizes national identity, power and belief in one true God. Today this error is being set right.” To set it right, the Moro or Bangsamoro would be governed by the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will be established and executed by the Bangsamoro Government. That government, which awkwardly means “Nation of Moro Government” if translated literally, will be set up very soon.

My Muslim brother Salah Jubair, whom I am extremely proud of, continues, “A nation is reborn in the Moro. Though centuries older than the Filipino nation in the North, it is long-lost in the debris and fame of the past. It last reasserted its identity decades after the entry of America. But it was not to claim past glory, rather, it was to unshackle the gory image put on it by colonialism. That the Moro is a nation under endless tyranny is a premise that his book tries to narrate and explain - and hopefully will prove.”

“All the monikers assigned to the natives, Indio, Moro, and Filipino were given by the Spaniards. History should credit them for giving us all these names, either out of hatred or by reason of similarities, or by force of circumstances, or by all of the above.” In short Brother Jubair is asking us to embrace the word Moro, adopt it as our own and build an identity around it, regardless of the painful history and meaning behind it.

This is an issue, which is crucial to many of us now, because the Philippine Government is almost close to sealing a deal with my brethren, the people of Mindanao and Sulu. They call it Bangsamoro Framework Agreement as you must already know. They say it is uncertain if this agreement will indeed pave the way for peace or bring in more conflicts instead.

Fr. Jun Mercado, a cardinal and peace advocate in Mindanao, in an article published in gmanetwork.com on February 19, 2014, listed ten crucial issues regarding the above agreement. The first one relates to the term “Bangsamoro”.

“The first understanding that needs to be put in the ‘right place’ is the very use of the word - ‘Bangsamoro’.” Fr. Mercado explains. “The FAB and its Annexes use the word Bangsamoro in three levels: Bangsamoro as Identity; Bangsamoro as Territory; and Bangsamoro as Government. All the three levels are NOT merely historical or romantic concepts. They are all political and sensitive concepts or political constructs. If these are NOT handled properly, they can be the proverbial ‘kink’ in the whole peace agreement.”

Why Bangsamoro? Now they have to come up with some definition of the term, because everyone knows this as a Spanish construct.

Prof. Dr. Clem Bascar, the author of the book, “Sulu Sultanate: The Unconquered Kingdom” in his article, “Moro sub-state - An American concept”, explained that “the term Moro has no indigenous dialectal or linguistic roots. In short, it’s entirely a Spanish lingual invention, used to refer to all the inhabitants of Mindanao and Sulu when they first set their foreign feet on the shores of these two ancient monarchial territories to conquer, colonize, and Christianize as early as 1578. As a matter of historical truth, before the coming of the Spaniards, there was no Moro inhabitant to speak of in Mindanao and Sulu.”

I wonder what Brother Jubiar has to say. I am curious about what he thinks. He might launch a new edition of his book, and I wonder if he will continue to use Bangsamoro. The title seems to speak of things to come. “Bangsamoro: Under Endless Tyranny”. A friend of mine asked, “How can a nation free itself of endless tyranny if the name it continually bears is tyrannical in the first place?” I’ll wait for Brother Jubair’s response.

By the way, the name Salah Jubair could mean either “advise to pray” or “good guidance” in Arabic. Salah means righteousness, goodness, peace, bowing, homage, worship and prayer. Jubair means “counsels”.

The free online dictionary defines counsels as “the act of exchanging opinions and ideas; consultation and advice or guidance, especially as solicited from a knowledgeable person.” Brother Salah Jubair is a knowledgeable person whom every one of us shall solicit advice from regarding the good ends of the cause for self-determination and freedom.

Now as a Tausug, I revere the elders and respect the wisdom of those that came before me. I advise everyone to stop asking and just follow what esteemed Brother Salah Jubair says. Never mind if in the Malay language, the word “Salah” means wrong or mistake.

I don’t want to do anything wrong or commit a mistake though, so ahead, let me say this: Forgive me Ya Allah. Forgive us all for the mistakes we made and are about to make.